Radiation is commonly used in the non-invasive inspection of objects such as luggage, bags, briefcases, and the like to identify hidden contraband. Contraband includes guns, knives, explosive devices, as well as illegal drugs, for example. As criminals and terrorists have become more creative in the way they conceal contraband, the need for more effective non-invasive inspection techniques has grown. While the smuggling of contraband onto planes in carry-on bags and in luggage has been a well-known, on-going concern, a less publicized but also serious threat is the smuggling of contraband across borders and by boat in large cargo containers. For example, it has been reported that only 2%-10% of the 17 million cargo containers brought to the United States by boat are inspected. (“Checkpoint Terror”, U.S. News and World Report, Feb. 11, 2002, p. 52.)
One common inspection system is a line scanner, where an object to be inspected, such as luggage, is passed between a stationary source of radiation, such as X-ray radiation, and a stationary detector. The radiation is collimated into a vertical fan beam or a pencil beam and the object is moved horizontally through the beam. The radiation transmitted through the object is attenuated to varying degrees by the contents of the object. The attenuation of the radiation is a function of the density of the materials through which the radiation beam passes. The attenuated radiation is detected and radiographic images of the contents of the objects are generated for inspection. The radiographic image reveals the shape, size, and varying densities of the contents.
In a typical seaport environment, a cargo ship is docked in the seaport, and containers are lifted off from the ship by a crane. The containers may be lowered by the crane onto a truck. If it is decided to inspect the container for contraband then the truck takes the container to a designated inspection site.
Typical X-ray inspection systems, when used in a seaport or airport environment tend to be impractical due to the size of the cargo containers. Standard cargo containers are typically 20-50 feet long (6.1-15.2 meters), 8 feet high (2.4 meters) and 6-9 feet wide (1.8-2.7 meters). Air cargo containers, which are used to contain a plurality of pieces of luggage or other cargo to be stored in the body of an airplane, may range in size (length, height, width) from about 35×21×21 inches (0.89×0.53×0.53 meters) up to about 240×118×96 inches (6.1×3.0×2.4 meters). Sea cargo containers are typically about 40-50 feet long, 8 feet wide and 8 feet high (12.2-15.2×2.4×2.4 meters). Large collections of objects, such as many pieces of luggage, may also be supported on a pallet. Pallets, which may have supporting side walls, may be of comparable sizes as cargo containers. The term “cargo conveyance” is used herein to encompass cargo containers (including sea cargo containers) and pallets.
Fixed radiation inspection systems have been proposed for inspecting large containers. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,430,568 to Yoshida discloses an X-ray system for the inspection of packages, including large shipping containers. A conveyor moves the package or container horizontally between the X-ray source supported on a floor and a detector array. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,599,740 to Cable discloses a fixed inspection system, where an X-ray source transmits a continuous beam of radiation across a conveyor along which the containers to be inspected are moved. The container may be moved either continuously or incrementally. The radiation transmitted through the container is detected by a “folded” sensor screen or device having two perpendicular arms, one extending vertically along a side of the container and the other extending horizontally over the top of a container during inspection. The folded sensor enables the system to have a smaller height than would otherwise be necessary in order to detect radiation transmitted through the entire container.
It has also been proposed to scan large containers with portable X-ray imaging systems. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,638,420 to Armistead discloses a straddle inspection system, whereby the radiation scanning system (a source and detector) is fixed to a movable frame and the frame is moved horizontally along the length of the container while the image data is sequentially recorded. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,028 to Geus et al. discloses an X-ray inspection system including a source and a detector that are mounted on a motor vehicle. The vehicle is driven past the object in order to scan the contents of the object. It has been proposed to inspect cargo conveyances with such systems.
The radiation scanning systems described above have several disadvantages. For example, the systems take up valuable space in the sea port. While the Armistead and Geus patents were designed to be portable in order to minimize the amount of space permanently dedicated to the X-ray facility, both of these systems are still large and establish a large exclusion zone when in use. In addition, all of these systems may be easily defeated within the “large container” environment. For example, once a container is unloaded from the ship and placed on the dock for delivery to the inspection station, contraband can be easily removed before inspection. The above described systems also have slow inspection speeds. The containers can be typically unloaded from a ship more rapidly than the scanner can complete its inspection.
It has also been proposed to mount a radiation detector on a crane system, to detect radiation emitted by radioactive materials within a cargo conveyance being moved by the crane system. Such systems cannot detect contraband that is not radioactive or is shielded for concealment.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,778,631 B2 purports to describe X-ray scanning systems for scanning shipping containers being moved by cranes. The X-ray sources and the detectors are not clearly shown or described. In one example, the shipping container is said to be “turned by 90° so that it can be X-rayed from the longitudinal side” for “brief” X-raying of the shipping container. It can then be determined whether further inspection is needed. (Col. 2, lines 35-40, FIG. 3). The mechanism for turning the shipping container is also not described.